Full House Shuffle
by sanctum-c
Summary: The signs had been there for a while, but it wasn't until Marlene made them sit down and discuss it that Cloud and Barret could admit that they had feelings for each other and Tifa. But as much as she would love to see her family grow, Denzel convinces her to give the grown-ups some space while they sort out the new dynamic.


"Now, I want you to sit down and talk about your feelings."

Cloud was perched on the edge of the sofa, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands. Barret by contrast was sitting as far from the blonde man as his bulk allowed, hunched up and almost lying on the arm. Marlene folded her arms and looked sternly from one to the other. Cloud brought his head up and met her eyes, panic registering behind the Mako glow. Her gaze swept to her father who looked at her with shock and a growing twinge of embarrassment. A hand touched her shoulder.

"Marlene... I think we should give them some space..." Hope appeared on Cloud's face as Denzel spoke, and Barret shot a nervous sidewards glance at the blonde seated beside him.

"No! This involves us too. If they're going to stop playing around and actually admit things to each other... I want to help."

The boy sighed. "I know. But... look at them." He gestured at the two men. "They're embarrassed enough as it is. They need some time alone. Anyway, we need to tell Tifa!" He grinned and she found herself smiling back. Behind them, both Cloud and Barret opened their mouths to respond, but the kids were already through the Seventh Heaven door and out onto the Edge streets.

"Do you think Tifa already knows?" Marlene asked as they raced along the street.

"I think so," Denzel replied with a frown. "They've been being weird around each other for so long now. This is going to change everything."

"I don't think it will. They've known each other for years. And there's been things for years..."

"What things?"

"You know when Cloud told us the story about what he and the others were doing before Meteorfall?"

"Uh-huh."

"They went to the Gold Saucer a few times, and the second time they were stuck there overnight."

"Yeah, I remember. Yuffie said Tifa took him out on a date."

"Yep. Tifa said Aeris took Cloud out."

Denzel stopped and looked at Marlene. "Wait, why are there two different stories?"

"There aren't. There are four."

"What!?" he exclaimed.

"Papa said Yuffie took Cloud out on a date."

"...then who's the fourth date?"

"Papa."

A grin broke over Denzel's face. "Really? Who told you that one?"

"Aeris did."

He giggled at that. Of all the story-tellers, he reckoned she would be the most honest. Marlene spotted Tifa strolling towards them, a bag of groceries cradled in her arms.

"Hey, you two," she smiled, her face changing to a frown. "Marlene, I thought you were spending the day with Barret?"

"I was. But he and Cloud had more important things to talk about, so I don't mind."

Tifa stared at her. "He said that?" A scowl crossed her face.

"No." Marlene replied in a sing-song voice. "I made them talk. And I think you should talk to them too."

Now Tifa's face was a mask of confusion. "Me?"

"Yes." The girl nodded emphatically. "I think you need to close the bar and go and talk to both of them. Right now."

"Are they... fighting?"

"No. At least not yet. And they shouldn't if they're honest with each other."

Tifa looked to Denzel who simply grinned, and with a slightly worried look began to head home.

"We'll see you in a few hours," called her adoptive son.

"Think that's enough time?" Marlene pondered as they watched Tifa's retreating back.

"I hope so. They should have all kissed and made up by then. I just hope it doesn't scare Cloud off again..."

A fist struck Denzel's arm. "Don't even joke about that!" He rubbed his arm frantically, his face now worried.

"Sorry..." he muttered. "It wasn't a joke..."

She glared at him.

"I really don't want him to go again. If everything goes right, Cloud won't go. He'll have both of them to come home to now."

"And us!" interjected Barret's daughter.

"Yep. And us too. Who could resist?"

He glanced around. Even after the curing of Geostigma, Edge was not exactly a haven for kids; there was precious little to do except hang around on the streets, venture out beyond the city limits or...

"Hey, let's go her Aeris about this!" His companion's voice broke into this thoughts.

Denzel was momentarily confused, before realising that she could only mean one her. Aeris. "Do we need to? Isn't she... everywhere?"

Marlene sighed. "She's not omni...om..." She trailed off trying to remember the word and eventually gave up. "She's not everywhere at once. She'll be in the church."

Her friend regarded her dubiously, but eventually conceded. "Well, it'll give us something to do..."

"Yep. Plus she likes to hear what we've been up to."

"You talk to her a lot?"

"Not as often as I'd like. Tifa's still a bit worried about me going there alone, and she's so busy trying to sort the orphanage out."

The pair of them began the long walk that would take them from Edge back into the more stable areas of the abandoned dual city of Midgar. The days after Cloud had defeated Sephiroth for the second time and returned from the Planet had seen one or two victory parties, a slightly more private reunion party and then a period of convincing Yuffie that she couldn't live in the bar from now on. She'd eventually left grumbling and theorising if she had left a kid with them she might get preferential treatment of the cot in Cloud's office. Once family life had settled to a pleasant calm, Cloud had broached an unexpected subject to Tifa; an orphanage for the now cured victims of Geostigma. The formerly stigmatised orphans had been staying in a make-shift shelter that Reeve had pulled several strings to get put into place.

Tifa could scarcely believe it when he first suggested it to her, but readily agreed. Despite the smiles and happiness of the children in the pool at the church as the black stain dispersed from their skin, there was the horrible inevitability that while they were cured of this disease, others awaited them on the cold streets long after the adults had stopped paying them attention. They both knew what it was like to lose their parents, Cloud gently reminded her. But not at that age, or at least not both...

Tifa didn't need convincing. Barret was willing to assist in locating or building a more permanent building to house the kids, and had wild ideas about teaching them as well.

"Hey, Denzel?"

"Mmm?"

Marlene frowned, puzzling out how best to put her new question. "I heard Cloud say once... that she led you to him. And Tifa thought she'd lead you to both of them..."

"They did?"

She nodded. "...and I was wondering what it was like. Did she tell you to go a certain way, or did she lead you, or...?"

Denzel frowned. "Sorry. I can't really remember what was happening then. If she did I can't remember it, I just remember walking until I saw Fenrir..."

"Oh." She looked a little disappointed.

"But I did talk to her once, remember?"

The girl couldn't help but smile at that, remembering the warm smile that covered Denzel's face as he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone-line. Marlene smiled.

"I remember."

The church was deserted when they arrived. They'd heard there was a steady pilgrimage here throughout the days as those still afflicted with Geostigma across the world came to bathe in the always crystal-clear waters, marvel at the flowers, and look speculatively at the gigantic sword that was now embedded within the altar beyond the flower-bed. It had been one of Cloud's first actions once the parties had wound down, and neither of them fully understood the implications, or who Zack was. Cloud had promised to relate the story that evening, but events seemed to have conspired against that.

Denzel dithered by the water's edge and then sank onto his knees and clasped his hands together.

"...what are you doing?"

He looked up nervously. "Shouldn't we pray?"

Marlene sighed. "We're not talking to God, we're talking to her. Just talk like normal."

"I feel a bit silly..."

She sighed. "I'll start then." She cleared her throat. "Hi Aeris! Sorry its been a while since I last talked to you. Everyone's doing so much better now that Geostigma can be cured. Oh, Cloud and Tifa are going to start an orphanage and Papa's helping. Oh and I brought Denzel with me this time."

"...you know you're avoiding the subject, don't you?" observed Denzel. Marlene shot him a look.

"I thought she'd like to hear about other things first rather then just about them." She sighed. "Okay. We have some big news for you, though I think you knew it was coming for a while."

Barret's daughter paused then, and Denzel unconsciously strained his ears waiting for a response from his family's lost friend. Nothing. She continued on regardless.

"I know you know about Cloud and Tifa getting along better now. We just thought you might like to know that Papa and Cloud are getting on just as well. And Papa and Tifa. We told them to talk it all out today."

She turned and gestured. "Come on," she hissed. "You too!"

"I don't know what to add to that," replied Denzel. Marlene sighed.

"Just talk to her..."

This time he sighed. "Hi... um... Aeris. It's like Marlene said. At least... we hope it will be; Barret, Cloud and Tifa together. We think they'll be happier and don't have to look so embarrassed when someone notices they're staring at each other."

"Or when Papa keeps walking into the bathroom by 'accident' when Cloud's having a shower," added his companion.

"Hey, I thought I had to talk to her now!"

Marlene giggled. "Oh, tell her about the bet! And how long it took Papa to realise..."

Denzel smirked at that. If nothing else, that little moment had truly solidified to them that Barret had more then a passing attraction to Cloud. It had, naturally, been Yuffie's fault. Before she had been unceremoniously tossed out of the bar and clogged the messaging system up with various observations of Cloud's character and bearing as a human being, she had orchestrated a few dare based party games for Avalanche's get together. Cloud had lost and with quick, suspicious eyes Yuffie remarked how much she had enjoyed hearing about the exploits of Miss Cloud some years earlier, and that it would be good to see her again.

Grudgingly and with a lot of coaxing and help from Tifa, Cloud was reunited with a garment he thought long and thankfully lost; a carefully cut purple dress. Tifa would only smile mysteriously at question of how or why she could still have it; Marlene suspected an intervention from beyond the grave personally. Dolled up, Cloud's punishment was to serve drinks for an hour. And a mere fifteen minutes after he began, Barret finished up his errands and made it to the party.

"Oh... hey," he rumbled, catching sight of the blonde behind the bar. "Tifa, I thought you said this was a private party this time?"

Beside him, the already smirking Cid began to chuckle, and the architect of the incident was doubling over with laughter. Cloud's face deepened into the already present scowl as Tifa's lips curled despite her best efforts and thoroughly biting her tongue.

The truth was quickly revealed to the flabbergasted Barret who roared with laughter as well. But then, and uncertain of how many caught the glances, Barret's gaze never strayed too far from the extremely pretty Miss Cloud. As soon as the hour was up, Cloud bolted from the room threatening to burn the dress - no one was certain where it had wound up - and he scrubbed the makeup from his face. He returned reddened and determined to assign Yuffie a dare of her own. To his frustration the chance never came up, but Barret's attentions never strayed too far from the blonde man.

Marlene and Denzel giggled as they related the story beside the pool, moving on to Cloud's unexpected invitation to allow Barret to stay long after the others had departed and Yuffie had been evicted. Barret himself didn't know what to say, but agreed, trying desperately to be helpful, and finding reasons to help Cloud.

Her companion eventually realised something. "Hey, don't you think we should tell her about Barret and Tifa? I mean, you said she knows about Cloud and Tifa..."

"I don't know what Tifa told you of what it was like before we met Cloud - or if she ever knew, but I really wanted Tifa to be my new Mom. She was so pretty the first time I saw her, and... Papa says I asked if they were going to get married one day. Tifa just blushed, but she never looked like the idea upset her. Papa remembered an urgent job when I said that..."

"So they never did anything before they found Cloud?" queried Denzel.

"Nuh-uh," Marlene replied, shaking her head. "Or at least not that I ever saw. I got really worried when she brought Cloud home - I thought I would lose my new Mom. So I was really happy when Aeris kept asking questions about him. I thought if they were together, then Papa and Tifa would be okay again."

She glanced at the pool. "Sorry Aeris. I did really think you liked Cloud, and that he should know about it..." She looked away a little guiltily. "But Papa and Tifa were great together. She'd always fall asleep in the evenings and wind up leaning on Papa. Then he'd send me to bed as he took her up himself... He was flustered the first few times, but then he just kept letting it happen. Until Cloud... Since then he's been trying to give them some space and not said anything"

"He will today."

"We hope," replied Marlene. "This was why I wanted to stay and make sure they did talk about it!"

Denzel sighed. "I know. But your dad really isn't going to want to talk about how he feels about Cloud and Tifa in front of you..."

"Why not? The last thing they should do from now on is hide it!"

"Yeah - I know Marlene. It's... just... they don't like talking about some things in front of kids."

"Well that's dumb."

"But you want them to talk about it right?"

"Yeah..."

"And you've gotta believe me, they'll be more willing with us out of the way. Plus you want them to be happy, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So this is for the best. We've just got to trust Barret and Cloud talked enough before Tifa got back and the three of them explained everything."

Marlene nodded. "Think we've given them enough time?"

"Maybe... We could see if its safe to go back..."

The pair stood and wandered towards the door. At the threshold, Marlene turned back and called out: "Bye Aeris! We'll come again soon and tell you how they're doing!"

Denzel wasn't sure if he was just hearing things, but he could swear he heard a faint giggle that sounded so much like a voice he had only heard once in his life, but would never be able to forget. The two of them wandered back out of Midgar, hoping for the best for the latest change to their extended family.


End file.
